Microsoft CEO Confirms Call of Duty Will Remain on PlayStation Platform

In an effort to protect the largest video gaming deal from regulatory scrutiny, the CEO of Microsoft Corp. restated his company’s commitment to maintaining the popular game Call of Duty on Sony Corp.’s PlayStation console, which is a direct competitor.

Microsoft called its own CEO Satya Nadella and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick to testify in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday to bolster its argument that the companies’ $69 billion bond won’t hurt competition in the console and subscription-based games market. .

The case is a major test of the US Federal Trade Commission’s ability to block technology deals in court after the agency lost a challenge to acquire Meta Platforms Inc earlier this year.

Nadella said he is “100 percent” committed to keeping the Call of Duty shooter on Sony’s gaming platforms. Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer also vowed last week that it would not exclude the game from PlayStation consoles.

The pledges were made to US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, who must decide whether to halt the Microsoft deal — which is set to close on July 18 — while the FTC’s legal challenge to the blockbuster deal is ongoing.

Answering questions from lawyers for both Microsoft and the FTC during his nearly 45-minute stand, Nadella shared a light moment with the judge, who asked him if he plays Activision’s wildly popular mobile game Candy Crush. “Me,” he said with a hearty laugh. “And Call of Duty.”

How gaming hardware manufacturers use exclusive titles to beat the competition has been a recurring theme in the FTC’s Microsoft case. Nadella said that he personally does not support content exclusivity on consoles. “If it were up to me, I’d like to get rid” of exclusive consoles, he said.

But Sony, the dominant player in the console market, has “defined the competition with exclusivity,” Nadella said. “So that’s the world we live in. I have no love for that world,” he said.

The FTC claims the deal would hurt Microsoft’s competitors, including Sony — if Call of Duty is excluded from PlayStation devices.

The agency also says the deal would undermine competition in the emerging cloud market, which allows gamers to stream games to PCs and consoles instead of downloading them.

Microsoft attorney Rakesh Kilaru asked Nadella if cloud gaming could replace console gaming. The company has argued that the FTC’s concerns about cloud gaming are a stretch because the technology is still being developed.

“It’s difficult,” Nadella said, explaining that Microsoft’s cloud gaming has not “worked” as well as the company had hoped.

“Satya made it abundantly clear that Microsoft is delivering on its commitment to its partners and the gaming community to bring more games to more players,” Microsoft said in a statement.

Nadella’s testimony came after Kotick previously told a judge that Activision would likely abandon its bid for Microsoft if the FTC wins a stay order.

“My view from the board is that if the preliminary injunction is granted, we will not see this transaction continue,” Kotick said.

Read more: Microsoft’s collection of exclusive games draws fire from deal foes

Kotick took issue with the FTC’s console market argument. Removing Call of Duty from PlayStation would be extremely “harmful to our business,” he said, adding that players would “revolt” if the best-selling game was pulled from any platform.

He also indicated a lack of enthusiasm for bringing Activision’s games to on-demand gaming services, a market the FTC believes will be harmed if the deal goes through.